Chapter 26

The little monster didn’t know why Mommy’s mood suddenly became strange again. Just as it was about to cry out, it heard a sound nearby.

Someone was coming!

The tentacle ball inside its belly became alert. Shi Yu also snapped back to reality and heard a car horn in the distance.

It sounded like… someone was coming?

Who would be coming here at this hour?

Earlier when he came upstairs, Shi Yu had already asked about the closing time of the Haolai Mall. It was about to shut down soon.

Could it be someone with the same goal as him?

Shi Yu thought about it quickly but decided not to stay upstairs any longer. He had just gotten rid of a strange creature, and if he stayed, others might become suspicious. He needed to leave quickly.

He looked around to make sure he didn’t leave anything behind that could reveal his identity. Just as he was about to head downstairs, he paused near the elevator.

Hmm?

There was a sound coming from the bathroom?

Shi Yu froze for a moment when he heard faint breathing from the side of the second-floor restroom.

Someone else was still upstairs?

He didn’t expect anyone to still be here, especially when the second floor had become a haunted area. He guessed the person might be food caught by the strange creature, and the creature hadn’t had time to do anything yet.

Even though things were urgent outside, Shi Yu clenched his teeth and decided to check it out.

He had to rescue the person. If he was wrong, and the people downstairs weren’t here to deal with the strange events, the person trapped upstairs would be left behind.

At the corner near the elevator, outside the restroom, there was a storage area. Shi Yu followed the sound and opened the door.

Sure enough, someone was inside.

—A woman in a hospital gown was passed out on a mannequin stand.

She looked pale and weak, probably had been trapped there for a long time.

Luckily, he heard her.

The room was unventilated and surrounded by contamination. Staying there any longer could have been deadly!

Shi Yu heard the security guard downstairs shouting about closing the doors. He quickly helped the unconscious woman downstairs and placed her where someone would definitely see her — by the staircase entrance.

There was a big door nearby, and when the security came to lock up, they’d see her and send her to the hospital.

Feeling a bit relieved, Shi Yu pulled down his hat and left naturally through the stairs, blending into the crowd and avoiding all the vehicles.

…

After receiving the mission, Wang Shan and Zhao Wen arrived with their team.

They split up. Zhao Wen went to check the residential area for the “flesh-eating rat,” while Wang Shan brought equipment to the Haolai Mall.

Their timing wasn’t great — though it was just after noon, most shops in the mall had already closed early due to recent strange events. Even the friendly bubble tea girl who had spoken with Shi Yu before had already packed up and left.

Wang Shan walked in with his device and approached the elderly security guard.

“Sir, have all the shops closed?”

The guard, standing in the hot sun, seemed to be avoiding something. When he saw someone coming, he shouted, “We’re closed!”

He didn’t hear Wang Shan clearly the first time. When Wang Shan asked again, he nodded.

“They’re gone. All done for the day. If you want to buy something, come back tomorrow!”

Wang Shan sighed at the bad luck.

Haolai Mall had different hours than other malls. While other places were just getting busy, this one was already closing down.

Originally, he wanted to check everything one by one, but now only the old security guard remained. Wang Shan pulled out a photo.

“Sir, have you seen this person recently?”

The woman in the photo was a shop assistant who had first reported hearing strange noises on the second floor. After hearing them twice, she thought she was just stressed and mentally unwell, so she quit her job and was resting in the hospital. But last night, she mysteriously disappeared. Someone saw her walking alone in the rain toward Nanlin East Road, but it wasn’t confirmed if she came to the mall.

The guard casually glanced at the photo.

But when he saw who it was, his expression changed. He looked afraid, recalling that day.

“I saw her.”

“But she quit a few days ago.”

“She didn’t come yesterday?” Wang Shan asked.

The guard shook his head: “We closed at noon yesterday. The whole building was shut down. No way anyone came in.”

“Even if she came, she couldn’t get inside.”

Wang Shan had already expected this but sighed anyway, suspecting the woman might have been killed.

Meanwhile, Zhao Wen sent back info from the residential area: the “flesh-eating” rat had only absorbed some strange energy by accident and mutated slightly. It wasn’t a real threat.

The scary body parts people saw came from an old burial site miles away and weren’t dangerous.

The missing woman, Ms. Wu, did live nearby, but her timeline didn’t match the rat incident. So, they ruled that out.

That left only Haolai Mall.

Seeing shops closing at midday, Wang Shan realized they had underestimated the problem. This was more serious than a mutated rat — it was affecting a group of people. Why hadn’t it been reported?

Even today, it was barely mentioned, and now someone had gone missing because of it.

Wang Shan pushed aside his questions for now. After leaving the guard, he quietly headed upstairs while the guard wasn’t looking.

He had noticed everything downstairs looked normal, so the issue was likely above.

Holding his detection device tightly, Wang Shan’s face grew serious. As he reached the stairs, the device lightly vibrated.

Just a small tremor — it confirmed his guess.

He followed the signal carefully.

But just as he reached the stairwell, he stopped in shock.

He found someone unexpected on the ground.

It was the missing woman, Wu Xiaolian — unconscious, but alive!

A few minutes later, Wang Shan called the ability-user headquarters to report.

He also immediately called for an ambulance.

The security guard was startled to see the friendly-looking man suddenly carrying someone out.

“When… when did she get here?”

Wang Shan shook his head. He didn’t know either.

They waited together until the ambulance arrived and quickly carried her away.

When Wang Shan helped her up earlier, he noticed she had a fever, was unconscious, and lacked oxygen. He got her to the hospital just in time.

But as he looked back at the mall, he was confused:
How did she end up there?

And how was she still alive?

…

Right after Shi Yu left, he saw the ability-user association’s cars arrive at a nearby intersection.

Less than 30 minutes after Wang Shan’s report, several cars showed up.

Zhao Wen came over first, followed by Shen Yan.

Still wearing his doctor’s uniform, Shen Yan seemed to have just gotten off work. He hadn’t even changed clothes but came as soon as he heard about the Haolai Mall case.

According to Wang Shan, if this was a group contamination event, then the strange creature might not be high-level, but it had a troublesome trait — it could spread. If they didn’t act fast, it could spread far from the mall and cause major problems.

With a serious look, Shen Yan put on gloves and went inside.

The security guard wanted to stop them, but Zhao Wen showed him the entry permit, and the guard backed off, confused.

As soon as Shen Yan entered the mall, the strange energy inside him activated. His psychic sense spread through every corner of the building.

He immediately noticed the strongest strange energy was on the second floor.

He walked upstairs…

Half an hour later, Wang Shan and the others saw Dr. Shen come back down. They didn’t approach right away. Only after the instruments showed Shen was not contaminated did they go over.

“Dr. Shen, how is it?”

“Did you catch it?” Wang Shan asked anxiously.

Shen Yan remembered what he saw upstairs and frowned. His expression looked odd for the first time.

“No.”

“It got away?”

Did the creature sense danger and release the hostage before escaping?

The others from the association looked grim. This creature was different — it could infect others. They absolutely couldn’t let it escape.

As soon as Wang Shan finished speaking, Dr. Shen pressed his fingers to his temple, looking a bit tired.

“That’s exactly what I’m confused about,” he said.

“The strange entity on the second floor didn’t escape — it’s already dead.”

When he went upstairs, he felt the strange energy fading, starting from a closed clothing store.

Thanks to Shen Yan’s special ability to sense psychic energy, he could detect the leftover traces and confirm that a “B-level strange entity” had been on the second floor.

But now, almost all of that energy was gone. If he had arrived ten minutes later, there might have been nothing left at all.

Even though it was strange, Shen Yan double-checked: the “B-level strange entity” — whose true form was still unknown — was definitely dead.

But the exact time of death was unclear.

The others looked at each other, clearly surprised.

“A B-level entity… died on its own?”

That sounded ridiculous. If it hadn’t come from Dr. Shen, they’d think it was a joke.

But that was the current conclusion.

Zhao Wen hesitated. “Could another ability user have come here and taken care of it?”

He couldn’t think of any other explanation.

Shen Yan shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Let’s seal off the area for now.”

He paused.

“Also, check why the store owner only reported it a week after the incident happened.”

“Got it.” Zhao Wen nodded and went to take care of it.

Meanwhile, after having a good meal, Shi Yu was on his way home in a car.

He had taken a taxi in the morning because it was early and due to special reasons. But going back, feeling a bit more relaxed, he took a longer route and caught a bus a few kilometers away from Nanlin Road.

After getting on the bus, he folded his black umbrella and checked his phone.

Hmm.

No news reports about the Haolai Mall incident yet. It seemed the ambulance didn’t draw much attention, which meant he was less likely to be exposed.

As for the woman he rescued, she was unconscious and didn’t see him.

Shi Yu went over the day’s events in his mind and started to feel more at ease. He yawned and leaned against the bus window, covering his stomach with one hand, and closed his eyes.

Tsk.

Maybe it was because he did too much today — this was his first time using the mental threads he sensed in his mind. Now that he was relaxed, he felt extremely tired. He just wanted to rest a bit, but ended up falling asleep without realizing it.

An hour passed, and as the bus neared the final stop, he was suddenly woken up by a familiar horn sound.

“Ding, next stop: Chenghua Main Street.”

“Please check your belongings and wait at the exit.”

The bus broadcast repeated the message. Shi Yu slowly woke up and frowned. He was annoyed at himself for letting his guard down and falling asleep so deeply on a public bus.

He opened his eyes and looked down to grab his umbrella.

But when he raised his hand, he noticed something strange — while sleeping against the window, his left hand had instinctively rested on his lower stomach, as if protecting something inside.

His face darkened.

There weren’t many people left on the bus. The driver reminded the passengers again.

“This is the stop — end of the line soon.”

“Chenghua Road, time to get off!”

Shi Yu came back to his senses, took a deep breath, grabbed his umbrella, and got off the bus.

Even after getting off, he was still confused.

Why did I do that?

He looked down at his stomach under the hoodie, which didn’t show anything, and felt like his head was about to explode.

Am I really getting that close to this little monster?

Shi Yu choked a bit, frustrated. He realized it was an unconscious action while he was asleep, so he couldn’t blame the little creature. He just frowned, pulled his hand back, and made a promise to himself:

“I won’t touch my stomach for the rest of the day!”

Meanwhile, the little creature inside: ???

It was totally confused. Even though it didn’t understand much yet, it could tell that when Mom’s hand gently touched it earlier, it felt really warm and comfortable.

Too bad Mom woke up. The creature curled up quietly again.

After getting home, Shi Yu washed up, stood on the scale despite his sleepiness, and checked his weight.

The number on the screen bounced up and down, and finally returned to what it was before he got pregnant.

He had gained back the weight. “Taking extra nutrition” really worked.

Shi Yu sighed in relief and wrote down the weight in his notebook. After comparing it with the previous record, he felt reassured and could finally sleep well.

The incident at Haolai Mall didn’t spread until the next morning.

The security guard had informed everyone that the mall would be closed. Across the street, someone living in a nearby apartment who also worked in the mall saw the ambulance.

In the afternoon, the woman taken out was Wu Xiaolian — the same woman who had already gone to the hospital earlier.

This shocked everyone.

They all knew Wu Xiaolian had been scared of the second floor. Why would she come back? And why was she taken out from the second floor?

Rumors about strange noises became even scarier.

But the mall had been sealed off since yesterday afternoon and still wasn’t reopened. People could only discuss the strange events in their small chat groups.

That morning, Shen Yan heard that Wu Xiaolian had woken up, so he and Wang Shan went to the hospital. On the way, they reviewed all the clues.

They still didn’t have much from the mall owner. Their hope now was that Wu Xiaolian remembered something.

They arrived at the hospital and found Wu Xiaolian in the infectious disease ward. After talking briefly with her family, they entered her room.

The night before, when Wu Xiaolian was brought in, she was in bad shape — both physically and mentally. She was shaking from fear and had to be saved urgently. She finally woke up that morning.

But her face still looked pale, and she seemed confused, like she had been scared out of her wits.

It was a reaction they’d seen in many first-time survivors of strange events.

Wang Shan sighed and let Zhao Wen, who looked friendlier, do the talking.

“Uh, Miss Wu,” Zhao said gently, “my colleague found you unconscious at the stairway and brought you to the ambulance.”

“Do you remember how you ended up there?”

The word “ambulance” seemed to wake her up. She noticed the people around her looked harmless. Even though she was still scared, she tried to remember.

But her thoughts were still fuzzy.

She shook her head. “I don’t really remember.”

“Just some… blurry memories.”

Zhao Wen looked at Dr. Shen, who nodded. Zhao then said, “It’s okay. Just tell us what you do remember.”

Wu Xiaolian tried her best to recall.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard the rumors about Haolai Mall. I haven’t been feeling well lately, always hearing strange noises when I’m alone. I thought it was stress and went to the hospital to rest.”

“But two nights ago…”

She gulped, looking terrified. “I went to get hot water at the hospital, and when I entered the hot water room, I heard someone calling me again.”

“This time, the voice was much clearer. I’m sure it wasn’t my imagination.”

Before that, she believed it was just in her head. But when her body moved on its own after hearing the voice and led her back to the mall, she couldn’t deny it anymore.

She really had experienced something supernatural.

She was already scared of that place. Why would she go back on her own? And at night, in the rain, walking ten kilometers?

Just thinking about it gave her chills.

“My mind could still think, but my body wouldn’t listen. Something inside the mall was calling me. I walked to the second floor, entered a storage room, and just stood there… like a mannequin. Then everything went black.”

“A mannequin?” Dr. Shen picked up on the clue and remembered what he saw on the second floor.

The strange entity was dead. And now that he thought about it, a lot of mannequins that should’ve been there were missing. He had assumed the shopkeepers had moved them. But now it looked like the entity was the mannequin — and when it died, it disappeared.

“You lost consciousness in the storage room? Not at the stairs?” Zhao Wen asked again, since Wang Shan had found her at the stairs.

Wu Xiaolian nodded firmly. “Yes, I was in the storage room.”

She would never forget how creepy it was, standing like a mannequin.

Now they had a clearer picture. If the strange entity was already killed, then maybe Wu Xiaolian had been saved by someone and moved to the first floor — but she was unconscious and didn’t know.

Wang Shan nodded and told her what they knew. Then he gave Zhao Wen a look.

Zhao Wen quietly stepped forward and ran a test on the air around Wu Xiaolian without anyone noticing.

Maybe it’s because they found her in time, or because the strange creature died too quickly, but Wu Xiaolian hadn’t yet changed into one of those creatures.

She was still a normal person.

Everyone felt relieved and said a few comforting words before leaving the hospital room.

“Right now, we can be sure that an unknown psychic was involved in this,” Zhao Wen said.

Were the strange creatures fighting each other by accident? At first, there was some doubt, but after hearing that Ms. Wu was moved from the second floor to the first floor by someone, that doubt disappeared.

Normally, strange creatures don’t care about humans and never save them. Even the mildest ones just ignore humans and don’t hurt them—they never save people.

Shen Yan opened his eyes: “He didn’t show up directly, and before leaving, he erased all traces. He probably didn’t want the Psychic Association to find out.”

Although the Psychic Association knows most psychics, some are still unknown.

This time, someone helped before the association arrived. The person involved in the “Haolai Mall” event is probably a wild psychic living in City B.

Shen Yan rubbed his forehead and reported this to the headquarters, waiting for their instructions.

…

The news about a wild psychic, not registered with the association, eliminating a B-level strange creature quickly spread in the Psychic Association.

The higher-ups hadn’t given instructions yet. Shen Yan went straight to the meeting room after leaving the hospital.

After a long day, his face looked a little pale, and his headache returned. After being caught by Han Chuyi that day, Shen Yan hadn’t watched Shi Yu’s live stream for five days. Now, exhausted, he thought about Shi Yu again.

While he was daydreaming, he didn’t notice the meeting had paused.

Sang Huaiyu, the top psychic attending the meeting, squinted and turned his head.

“Doctor Shen,” he said softly, bringing Shen Yan back to attention.

“Sorry, I was just very tired and distracted,” Shen Yan said.

Sang Huaiyu nodded understandingly, looking at him through white silk: “You look pale. You should rest more.”

His calm words made people look twice.

Han Chuyi, who had just been assigned another task to contact the Haolai Mall owner, raised an eyebrow.

Han and Shen Yan didn’t get along and didn’t care about each other. Han even sneered when Sang seemed to care.

Luckily, the meeting continued quickly. When the higher-ups looked over, Han took out his phone and said, “I contacted the Haolai Mall owner this afternoon. That old guy is slippery and didn’t tell the truth.”

“I checked his phone records. Recently, he met with some so-called ‘masters’ who claimed they could bless the mall so it would make more money.”

“Coincidentally, a week ago, he invited those ‘masters’ to do a ritual in the mall at night.”

The strange changes started right after the ritual. No one believed it was a coincidence.

“Ritual?”

Hearing that made even Fu Nanyao look up and frown. Real Taoists wouldn’t do this kind of thing, especially if it caused such trouble.

Han Chuyi scoffed, “Of course, it wasn’t a real ritual. Those charlatans placed blood bait in the mall to attract strange creatures.”

“If this went on long enough, the mall would change in less than a week and create an infectious B-level strange creature. No surprise there.”

The meeting room fell silent.

No one expected the mall owner to be involved.

“Have you tracked down those charlatans?” Shen Yan asked.

Han’s face darkened: “No.”

“They’re careful, no traces online, and always met the mall owner face-to-face. I found this from chats between the old guy and his secretary.”

Sang Huaiyu said calmly, “Those charlatans seem to be the key.”

“Maybe they accidentally caused the blood bait and attracted the creatures. Or…” He paused, voice strange, “They did it on purpose.”

The association leaders nodded, “We think so too. Sang, we need your help. There’s too much going on lately. If you can assist, that’d be great.”

Sang Huaiyu’s face didn’t change but he said kindly, “Chairman, you’re too polite. I’ll keep an eye on it.”

Since Sang had helped the association many times before, the chairman finally relaxed.

After the meeting ended, Shen Yan approached, hiding his tired face a little: “Looks like you’ll stay at the association for a few days?”

Sang nodded, “Some company matters need handling here.”

“But I can manage.”

Shen Yan was about to ask Zhao Wen to arrange a bright temporary office for Sang when Sang suddenly raised an eyebrow and looked at a daydreaming Han Chuyi.

“Xiao Han, do you know where to buy flowers nearby?”

Flowers?

Han snapped out of his thoughts, confused: “There’s a shop on West Street, just turn left outside. You can also order online, that’s easier.”

“But Sang, are you planning to put flowers in the temporary office?”

He thought Sang wanted to freshen up the office.

Sang’s eyes under the white silk didn’t change: “No, I just want to… give them to someone.”

After coming back, Sang was a bit bored and wanted something to do.

Since the strange changes hadn’t appeared yet, while waiting bored, he thought about Shi Yu again — the person he said he fell in love with at first sight a week ago.

The blurry image appeared again in his mind. It had been more than a week since he last saw Shi Yu. Sang decided to share a little consciousness with his sensitive plant, the Mimosa.

Surprisingly, the Mimosa had gone into a dormant state. After soaking up lots of water, it buried its head in the flowerpot and slept for days.

Sang frowned. He could wake the plant, but that might seem suspicious since the Mimosa’s weak abilities don’t usually allow early waking.

Though bored, he still wasn’t fully tired of pretending to be human. He reluctantly withdrew his consciousness and thought: Since the Mimosa can’t contact Shi Yu, maybe I should try another way.

He had said he liked that human streamer, right?

Giving flowers is totally normal.

His silver curly hair fell as he took out his phone and browsed the screen.

Han Chuyi was still stunned by Sang’s “giving flowers” comment. After Sang picked flowers carefully, he turned back and said:

“I heard from Wang Shan that you’ve been to Shi Yu’s home?”

Shi Yu?

Han didn’t deny it.

But wait… who is Sang asking about?

He suddenly felt a bad feeling.

Sang chuckled softly, “Then, can you tell me his address? Flower delivery needs an address.”

He looked up, calm: “I want to send him a bouquet I picked myself.”

…

Shi Yu slept until late the next day, only waking at dusk.

He rubbed his eyes and slowly got up to find a soda in the fridge. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Shi Yu: ???

Who could that be?

The doorbell rang three times, then the delivery person knocked twice.

“Are you Mr. Shi?”

“Here’s your delivery.”

Delivery?

His delivery?

Shi Yu was confused; he hadn’t ordered anything.

But the knocking outside wouldn’t stop and even disturbed the neighbors.

Someone in the building group chat asked what was going on.

Shi Yu twitched and, seeing no strange signs on the peephole, went to open the door.

Among his strange encounters, none was this bold. The whole building heard the noise, so it must be just a delivery.

Maybe someone sent the wrong order?

He was thinking this when he opened the door and unexpectedly saw a bouquet of flowers.

The delivery guy looked speechless and strange when he saw Shi Yu.

“You’re Mr. Shi, right?”

“Someone ordered these flowers for you. Please sign for them.”

Shi Yu: Wait, what?

“Are you sure they’re for me?” Who would send him flowers?

The delivery guy was sure: “1903 Shi Yu, that’s you. No mistake.” He hurried to his next delivery and left before Shi Yu could ask more.

Shi Yu took the fresh, beautiful white roses, looking suspicious. He opened the card inside. It had only one sentence:

“Monday, a bouquet for you. Hope you like it.”

The next second, his eyes widened in shock when he saw the sender’s name —

“Sang Huaiyu.”